Veteran funnyman Bill Cosby has fallen out with Donald Trump after criticising the property mogul's ambition to run for office in the U.S.
The comedian spoke out about Trump's plan to launch a bid for the White House in 2012 during an interview on America's Today show last week (ends10Apr11). He appeared on the programme shortly after Trump, telling host Meredith Vieira, "He's full of it... You run, or shut up... but the only thing he's running is his mouth".
Cosby's comments angered Trump and the tycoon has now released a furious statement, condemning The Cosby Show star's words.
Trump says, "The other day on the Today show, right after I was interviewed by Meredith Vieira... I happened to watch Bill Cosby who was on at the end of the show. While I have never been a fan of Cosby's, I had always assumed he liked or respected me because every time I met him... he was always so nice, saying, 'Let's get together' - asking me out to dinner, and being polite...
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In any event, as I watched the (Today) show... I was surprised to hear him blabber, somewhat incoherently, 'You run or shut up.' The hatred was pouring out of his eyes when he said this...
"I wish he would be more honest, and if he doesn't want me to run because he's obviously an (Barack) Obama fan, he should state the reasons and not come into my 'green room' in front of numerous witnesses and treat me like his best friend, only to denigrate me when I'm not around. Sadly, he got more attention talking about me than he did on the merits of his own appearance - maybe he is not as dumb as I thought."